Mike and Davy followed Simon Peter at a discreet distance as he ran through the streets of Jerusalem. Finally, grief and exhaustion caught up with him and he collapsed onto the stone stairs of a public bath house. Simon Peter wept bitterly over what he had done to Jesus and his sobs could be heard echoing for blocks around. Mike and Davy stayed in the shadows watching Simon Peter as he cried.
They felt sorry for him; they could just imagine how they would feel if one of them denied knowing the others. Suddenly, coming from the opposite direction, were two figures moving toward the weeping disciple. Mike and Davy at first thought they were simply concerned bystanders-until they saw the knives gleaming in the moonlight. Simon Peter had his head in his hands and didn't notice the two men approach.
Too far away to reach Simon Peter in time, Mike and Davy yelled in Hebrew "LOOK OUT!"
Simon Peter looked up in time to see one of the men dive at him.
Fortunately, years of working the hazardous job of a fisherman had made Simon Peter quick and strong. Instinctively, he moved out of the way to avoid the knife and grabbed his attacker's arm, then used his strength to throw the man to the ground. The other attacker came at Simon Peter, but the disciple dodged him too and threw the man onto his companion. The two men scrambled to their feet and began to run towards Mike and Davy. The two Monkees sought to block the men, but somehow both attackers had held onto their knives and brandished them in front of Mike and Davy.
"Get out of our way!" One of the men growled in english. The two Monkees recognized both men as Dr. Chronos' lackeys.
"You guys won't get away with this!" Davy said as he and Mike backed away.
"Yes we will," The other man said, "And you and your friends will be sorry you messed with us."
With that, Mark and Larry ran off towards Caiaphas' house. Simon Peter walked over to Mike and Davy, his eyes still wet with tears.
"What strange tongue were they speaking?" He asked, puzzled. Mike and Davy remembered the english language wouldn't evolve for several more centuries yet.
"We don't know." Mike replied in Hebrew, "They must be crazy people." Simon Peter nodded his head. "Thank you two for the warning. You men saved my life."
"It was nothing." Davy replied. "Are you alright?"
Simon Peter hung his head. "I am so ashamed of myself right now. My name is Simon Peter. I am a disciple of Jesus of Nazareth who was arrested tonight. At dinner this very evening, I told my master that I would go to prison and die for him. He told me that before the rooster crowed I would deny him three times." A sob escaped Simon Peter's lips, "And I did!"
The disciple began to cry again. Mike and Davy put their arms around him, trying to give him some comfort. Finally, Simon Peter wiped his eyes and looked at the two Monkees.
"You men are very kind to me, a complete stranger. How can I thank you?"
"You don't have to thank us." Mike said quietly.
"But I must!" Simon Peter insisted. "I know! Do you two have lodging somewhere?"
"No, not really." Davy replied. "We're travelers."
"Then come back home with me!" The disciple said. "I am staying at a friend's house. She has a lot of room! I know she won't mind taking in a few more people!"
Mike and Davy were about to refuse when they remembered that Elizabeth had told them to stay with Simon Peter.
Plus, it was getting colder outside and they were beginning to shiver.
"We'd be glad to." Mike replied.
The two Monkees followed Simon Peter back home.
++++
Micky, Peter and Elizabeth followed the three Marys back to Mary of Magdalene's house. It was a modest baked brick house surrounded by a fence. They quickly went inside and Mary of Magdalene told the anxious people inside that Jesus had been condemned and would be taken to Pilate in the morning.
Immediately, the house was filled with crying and wailing. Everybody knew what happened to anybody who was handed over for death to the hated Roman occupiers; they were scourged and crucified! Mary the wife of Cleophas took Mary the mother of Jesus into another room.
Mary of Magdalene showed Micky, Peter and Elizabeth where they would be staying.
"It seems Jesus has a lot of friends." Peter said sadly.
Mary nodded her head. "Yes, many of the people staying here are his disciples. They told us what happened in the garden tonight and so we came over to Caiaphas' house to see for ourselves; but we couldn't get in, so we had to wait outside, with no knowledge of what was going on." Mary then smiled at the three, "Until you good people showed up."
Mary then led them over to a small side room with a bed. "I'm sorry it isn't much, but its about all I have left. I'll bring you some extra blankets."
"This will be fine, Mary." Elizabeth said. "Thank you very much.
"If you three are hungry, come back to the front of the house, I have some food sitting out."
"Thank you again, Mary." Micky said, "You're very kind."
Mary smiled and walked away. Elizabeth sat down on the edge of the bed, while Micky and Peter filled her in on what happened in Caiaphas' house. She smiled at the two Monkees, then yawned.
"Why don't you get some sleep. Elizabeth?" Micky asked the angel, "Looks like you still need it."
"How can I sleep while my savior languishes in a dungeon?" Elizabeth said sadly.
Micky gently picked up Elizabeth's legs and placed them on the bed. "How can you help him, how can we help him, if you don't have your strength back?" He replied. "Now lean back and get some rest."
The angel obeyed, and soon she was fast asleep. Peter covered her with a blanket. Mary came back with a few more blankets. She smiled at the sleeping Elizabeth, and was about to say something when they heard loud talking coming from the front of the house.
The three of them quickly went to where the noise was. Standing inside the door where Simon Peter, Mike and Davy.
"Simon!" Mary exclaimed and rushed to embrace him, "I'm so glad you're alright!"
"Thank you Mary." Simon Peter replied, "And I owe it to these two travelers. They stopped two crazy men speaking in bizarre tongues from killing me." The disciple's face went somber, "But I wonder if it wouldn't have been better for me if they hadn't done so."
"What do you mean, Simon?" Mary asked, puzzled.
Simon Peter related what happened at supper that night, then about him denying Jesus three times.
"Oh Simon." Mary cried, hugging the disciple tighter, then remembered Mike and Davy. "Oh where are my manners?
Please come in, you are more than welcome to stay here!"
"Thank you, kind lady." Mike replied. "My name is Michael and this is David."
"I'm pleased to meet you." Mary said. "I am Mary of Magdalene."
Micky and Peter then bounced over, very happy to see their friends safe. "Hi, guys!" Micky said happily.
"Hi Michael and Peter!" Davy replied, very happy as well. "Is Elizabeth all right?"
"She's sleeping in the back." Peter replied.
"You four know each other?" Mary asked, surprised.
"Yes, the four of us and Elizabeth were traveling together and we became separated looking for lodging for the night." Mike replied.
"Then we can give thanks to Yahweh that he brought the five of you safely together again." Mary smiled.
++++
Mark and Larry raced back to Caiaphas' house and found a very angry oil and wine covered Dr. Chronos, Henry and Ian standing by the wall near the gate.
"What happened?" Larry asked.
"What do you think happened, stupid?" Dr. Chronos barked, "Two of those meddlers stopped us from delivering the drugged wine to the priests!"
"And the other two stopped us from killing Simon Peter." Mark answered.
"WHAT?!" Dr. Chronos shouted. His henchmen thought they could see smoke coming out of his ears. They took a step back from their boss.
After several long seconds, Dr. Chronos had his temper under control again. "We can't do any more tonight. Let's go back to the cave, clean up, and plan our next move. We don't have many opportunities left."
Dr. Chronos' eyes grew very dark and a wicked smile appeared on his face. "And when I get my hands on those interfering fools...they will soon wish they were never born!"